Steamed Baked Products from the Netherlands the Trade Factory Bakery in the Netherlands Specializes in Producing Bapao

Home , Baozi, Bun, Red bean paste

32 PRODUCTION Steamed baked products from the Netherlands The Trade Factory Bakery in the Netherlands specializes in producing bapao. These illed, steamed bread rolls are popular with young consumers. The baked products can be bought in the food retail, either fresh in a chiller display or as a frozen product. © f2m

++ Three Rheon plants put the various illings into the dough

In Asia, the subject of steamed baked goods brings to There are also bigger variants of steamed baked goods, both + mind jiaozi, baozi, gyōza or mandu. These filled, in Asia and in Europe. Germknödel, for example, a way of steamed dumplings are very popular. In China there are preparing yeast dumplings, are very popular in Austrian and said to be more than 40 jiaozi, also called Chinese dump- Bavarian cuisine. Here again there are different variants, e.g. lings, differing in size, shape, filling, wrapping type and with plum or blueberry filling (South Bohemia/regions in cooking methods. The dough for gyōza, Japanese dump- the Czech Republic). Butter is poured over the warm ger- lings, is somewhat thinner compared to jiaozi/baozi. The mknödel, or they are served with a vanilla custard sauce. The crescent-shaped, baked dumplings are often served as a dishes can also be sprinkled with ground poppy and icing side-dish. However, there are also steamed and fried vari- sugar. In China, hom bao are described as steamed buns. ants. The version from Korea is called mandu. It involves These are sold filled with sweet red bean paste, for example, a steamed product served with or without filling. These but savory fillings are also possible. Asian dough foods resemble Eastern European pelmeni, which are also boiled or steamed. Dumplings are another Bapao for the Netherlands European product that can also be steamed or boiled. In The Trade Factory Bakery B.V., CX IJmuiden, the Nether- Germany, Austria, South Tyrol and the Czech Republic lands, has found a special niche: the company produces there are dumplings as a side-dish, main dish or even as Bapao, a kind of steamed bun with various fillings. How- dessert and for adding to soups. ever, there is no particularly large Asian community in the

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Netherlands that would create a demand for such prod- into a pre-portioner. Conveyor belts then take the yeast ucts. The baked goods are bought especially by young dough into one of the three Rheon Corncopia KN400 consumers who want to eat a snack encrusting machines. The Rheon quickly and easily. Trade Factory has two hoppers. The dough for the manager Erwin Koopstra explains steamed buns goes into one, and the that this is why Bapao can be filling goes into the other. Manager bought in many supermarkets as Erwin Koopstra says “For example, frozen products or as fresh goods. this can be chicken, beef or even a vegetarian filling.” The respective The bakery began operation in filling is supplied to the Trade Facto- 2006. The bakery’s parent compa- ry already prepared ready for use. ny group, Seafood Parlevliet, orig- inates from the fishing industry. The KN400 encrusting plant now This is noticeable in the produc- forms the filled dough pieces from tion planning and in the high hy- the mix/filling and the dough. There giene standards. Production Man- is an almost unrestricted choice of ager Roel Heida explains that this shape, depending on the portioner © f2m is why the plants and the entire attachment and cutter aperture hall are wet-cleaned every day. ++ The inished product with a beef illing (iris). Creativity is almost unlimited, The whole bakery was planned by the Kortlever Technical thanks to a large number of several hundred possible at- Bureau B.V., DJ Meerkerk. tachments that have now been developed for the encrusting machines. In this respect, fillings extending to a con- Production of bapao starts at 06:00 hrs. every working day sistency comparable to that of mayonnaise can be pro- in a spiral mixer made by the Diosna company. The main cessed without any problems, as well as lumpy fillings and raw material, wheat flour, is metered into the mixing bowl a wide selection of doughs. According to Master Baker automatically. This is followed by water, sugar, yeast, salt Michael Kretschmann from the Rheon Automatic Ma- and fat. Bowl tippers transport the fully mixed dough chinery GmbH Company, Düsseldorf, Germany, “The

www.bakingbiscuit.com 04/2016 34 PRODUCTION © f2m ++ The illed dough pieces are deposited onto trays. Input and removal take place automatically. The entire project was designed by the Kortlever company

fillings can be either fully coated or half-coated, so they are visible at the top.”

The steam oven The filled dough pieces now leave the Rheon plants and are aligned. A conveyor belt carries the dough pieces forward to the deposition station, where a station provides prepared trays covered with baking paper. A tray can accommodate thir- ty dough pieces each weighing 120 grams. The full trays now pass automatically into a rack trol- ley. One of the two production staff then pushes the fully filled racks into the final proof. This involves racks being input in pairs onto a transport system in front of the tunnel proofer. The proofer holds a total of four racks on two lines, so parallel © f2m operation can take place. After proofing for 60 ++ Pairs of rack trolleys are driven automatically into the prooing minutes, most of the dough pieces together with room, where they remain for 60 minutes the racks move automatically into the steam oven. Ex- plaining the project, Gery Kortlever, Sales Manager of the steamed buns per shift. A further production increase is Kortlever Technical Bureau B.V., says “The bakery also still possible. The distribution channels include the na- has the option to use one of the three Wachtel rack ovens.” tional and international retail, and the food service mar- As well as steamed baked goods, this also allows the bak- ket. Individually developed products can be manufac- ery to offer browned products like a kind of pita bread tured under their own label if required. The pans and with filling. This increases flexibility. However, only molds can be open, closed, circular or elongated, and around 10% of the products that are manufactured end up weight ranges from 40 to 200 grams are possible. in the rack ovens. The quickest way to prepare the steamed products is in a Around 90% of the production volume finishes up in the microwave. Simply put the fresh goods (packed under steam oven. It is loaded with two racks at a time and, like protective gas, minimum shelf life: 90 days) with the pack- the proofer, holds a total of four racks. After 20 minutes ing into a 700 watt microwave to heat up for around 40 the fully steamed buns leave the oven. This is followed by seconds. Steaming is also an option. If the customer wants cooling and, if necessary, freezing. The packing depart- a browner baked product, the consumer can also bake the ment then awaits the products. product at home in an oven at 170°C for 14 minutes. The Trade Factory plans further expansion in the future, and Production Manager Roel Heida and Manager Erwin there have already been enquiries, e.g. from Belgium and Koopstra are satisfied with the workload on the produc- Germany. For example, the bakery could also produce tion unit. The employees manufacture around 60,000 steamed hamburger buns. +++